Foster
by Titan of Saturn
Summary: Highschool sucks. It's even worse when you're a Special Ed kid. See the life of the foster home of Treise and Une, where all five kids are really screwed up. Alternate Universe. Discontinued.
1. Duo: Strange

Disclaimer: The characters in this story are copyrighted by the makers of Gundam Wing. The use of these characters is merely for recreational purposes and is not in any way gaining me profit.

Claimer: The idea for this plot is my idea and if I see any copies I'll sic on you. Ye Pirates be warned.

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My life is really strange. And I don't mean strange like sixteen year old Junior in High School strange. I mean living in a foster home full of nuts strange. See it's like this; kids above ten aren't usually adopted, so once you reach that age they kick the orphans out and stick them in what's called a Foster home. A Foster house is where a married couple with stable living conditions takes in an orphan and care for them for a while. Until they get shipped somewhere else or come of age, or rarely adopted. Some Foster parents are special; they take troubled kids, hard cases, that kind of stuff. There are, however, very few who take in the strange ones. But Treize and Une Kashundra have got to be the strangest couple in existence.

My normal daily routine comes as the alarm clock rings, followed by a large smashing noise as I throw it on the floor to get more sleep. (My nightly extracurricular activities tended to leave me with not enough sleep.) Then I get a precious few more minutes of sleep, before something _very_ hot gets me out of bed with a yelp. As always that's Quatre with a match or lighter, big innocent smile on his face like he didn't just burn me. Then I hurry my way into the shower for lots of cold water. Quatre and I got the bedroom with the attached bath 'cause of the blonds' nasty habit. I swear I'm covered in burn scars by now…oh, did I forget to mention that lil' Cat is a pyro? Well, he is.

It then takes me an hour to get ready, mostly to dry my hair. It takes really long to dry hair like mine, I'll have you know. Then to breakfast, which is even stranger than waking with a fire under your ass, literally. So T-man and the Lady don't have a lot of rules for their house. It seems to be their policy as Fosters that the more you restrain the kid, the more he lashes out. God, I love that policy. The rules they do have, on the other hand, are absolutely enforced no matter what. School night curfew is ten, weekends is twelve. No drugs, alcohol, or cigarettes. Rooming arraignments are not to be changed. Skipping classes is absolutely forbidden and the whole family is to eat together, exceptions made only 24 hours ahead of time. Yeah, well, T's a retired General with a fat pension and Lady's a really successful businesswoman. Their stickers about time. I got grounded once for being four minutes after curfew. I am now always five minutes early.

Now I know all you normal strange teenagers out there are going 'what the hell? That's a lot of rules, idiot.' But to us strange strange teens this is heaven. All the other Fosters? They tried to restrict all our strangeness too, and that was like denying us our souls. Besides, Quatre without fire handy is really scary and Wufei without a knife is a lot _less_ scary and- well, you get the idea.

So, back to breakfast. We were required to eat dinner together, and eventually we picked up breakfast too. Even though me and 'Fei never eat anything, we sat at the table anyway. Right, so let me make proper introductions. Sitting on my left is Heero Yuy. He was orphaned really young, like me, and got adopted by this nut. So now he's obviously got problems. First and most obvious, _no emotions!_ That guy bottles up his emotion, and I mean everything. But, unfortunately, bottled emotions have to come out somehow. Every once in a while the dam will burst and he gets really, scarily, emotional. Most of the time though, he just cuts himself. Masochist, that one, not that I mind really.

Next to him is Trowa Barton. He was in a city when it was attacked by the army as a kid, killed his whole family. It left him deaf too, with the acute fear of enclosed spaces. People did not want to adopt a disabled kid, though the Bartons' gave a fair go at it. Never did like them, Trowa did. Trowa, having not been born deaf, is able to speak; though his speech is strange and he doesn't do it a lot. Trowa can also read lips fantastically, and is teaching the other boys how to sign.

After Trowa was Quatre Winner, my previously mentioned roommate. Everyone still cringes when they hear his last name, the Winner family massacre from six years ago still firmly planted in their minds. He'd confided to me that he planned on changing his name when he turned eighteen, but I pointed out the difficulties of gaining his inheritance then. He had just humped and flicked his lighter on. Quatre's pyro tendencies had started about six months after the incident, and had turned into an all out obsession by the next year. He was jumped from one Foster to the next, until he was finally dumped here.

Between Q-ball and 'Fei sat T and Lady. On my right sat Wufei Chang, probably who I consider the sanest out of the five of us, which is really kind of funny in an ironic way considering all those pill he takes to stay that way. Ya see Wufei hears voices. This illness, while perfectly controllable on his medication, did not explain his fondness of sharp shiny objects and did a lot more to deter any potential long term Fosters. His past I'm not so sure of. I think his small town was held up by rebels and his sister was killed in front of his eyes to make her grandfather co-operate. Something like that.

Don't forget me! The names Duo Maxwell, I may run, I may hide, but I never tell a lie. That's my motto, me in a nutshell, the whole shebang. Well, okay, so I'm not so simple. I grew up on the streets, formed this nasty habit of finding things that aren't mine on my person, and then got pulled in by a church. Said church was burned down when I was ten by the militia, and I also got juggled by Fosters. Oh right and I forgot to mention that I'm a little sadistic too. It's something you can over look.

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Duo looked down at the first entry in his Journal, satisfied that it met his standards. Then he let out a howl as Quatre knocked over one of his many candles.

"Lady! Quatre set fire to my notebook again!" Duo yelled, taking a damp cloth from the bathroom and beating out the spreading fire.

"I didn't mean to!" Quatre shouted back almost immediately. It was a miracle Duo could stand living with the boy, considering his own past with fire. He'd tried to find a way of weaseling his way into Wufei's room instead, let Heero deal with him. But of course, bed assignments were not to be changed. Trowa got his own room because of his claustrophobia, Duo and Heero are absolutely not to share a room, and Heero is not to have his personal belongings within four feet of Quatre's fire. When Heero's stuff caught fire the world trembled.

Duo sighed, blew on his notebook, and then stuffed it in his backpack. He skipped down the stairs, taking his spot at the table. His life was strange, but that was okay. He liked it that way.

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Okay, I got this out, please review.

TS


	2. Duo: School

We ride the short bus to school, mostly because the school administration doesn't like us around other kids unsupervised. We meet the guards at the school. Technically they're educational assistants provided by our 504 contract, but mine carries a gun so I call them guards. The school insists that they're there to help us in our classes, but really they're there to protect the sheep from us. The sheep are the general student population, by the way.

So my guard's name is Howard. Howie is pretty cool, slips me chocolate during third period when I'm starving. I would never make it to lunch without him. (The one downside to not being able to eat breakfast is that once I'm in school my gut kicks in.) Howie's there to keep me from hurting any of the other students just for fun. Sadist, remember? He does a good job, not that any of the sheep are really _worth_ the pain. I have to be careful with that line of thought though; my psychologist said that's the makings of a serial killer. I really don't want a guard for the rest of my life.

So, while the four of us are Special Ed kids, the whole school is for dumb people. So we attend normal classes (with our 'aid' of course) just like anybody else. Right, that brings me to the next thing. First period.

I'm failing English.

And it's my native language! How sad is that? My Sign is probably better than my English. I have first period English with Trowa, because it's the lowest class and we're both failing. Well, I'm failing, he's just barely passing. Catherine has probably been helping him, but that's what she's there for. Catherine is Trowa's aid. She doesn't carry weapons as far as I know, and she's there mostly to translate what the teacher says into Sign. It helps him a lot.

Second period I have Gym on A days and Science Lab on B days. Third period is AP Chemistry, and man do I love that subject. Chemistry I have with Wufei (who wasn't given a guard, the jackass) and we usually partner up. The teacher lets us because 'Fei is the only one in class that knows enough to tell when I'm mixing something volatile. I like explosions too, if you didn't know.

Gym, on the other hand, is a nightmare. Did you know you can fail gym? Well, you can. What's even worse is I have gym with Heero. Of all the classes I could have with the guy, I get stuck with him in gym. Heero is a jock, plain and simple. He plays every sport imaginable, and is the best at all of them. Heero prefers contact sports, though, probably to satisfy his masochistic streak. Thing is, everybody expects me to be good at sports too, 'cause I'm his 'brother.' Pu-leeze! I hate anything that involves teams, which is why I spend most of gym sitting on the sidelines. (Hence my failing)

On a side note, Heero's guard – Mr. Lowe – is really creepy.

Ugh. Fourth period. Hilde is a cool teacher and all, but Art sucks. I have great imagination sure, I just can't draw. Or paint, or sketch, or sculpt, or use pastel. Besides, all the stuff I imagine is stuff I can't draw. I can't believe they don't allow violent images. What good is art then? Hilde said that I have talent; I just need to work some to be better. Then she hinted on the subject that freedom of speech applies once I hit eighteen and that if I take an Art course in college then I could draw what I want. Like I said, Hilde is cool.

Fifth period is Latin. Now, I know what you're thinking, if I'm failing English how can I take a second language? Well, I'll have you know that I am in Latin 2h3. That stands for the second year of a three year honor course in second language classes. Basically, I kick ass in Latin.

Sixth period is lunch. (Sixth period? What the hell were they thinking making lunch that late?) I have lunch with the other Special Ed kids in a specific room. That sucks. I know that it's dangerous having me near the general population, and that Heero likes to pick fights just to get beat up, and that Quatre once set a student on fire, (the guy'd been trying to feel him up, what did they expect him to do?) and that Wufei isn't allowed near knives, and that Trowa can't stand the crowds… okay, so maybe the school's justified. But, I mean, even the retards get to eat in the cafeteria! It's just not fair.

Even so, lunch is a crazy affair. You would not believe how much I eat for a short guy. And Heero's eating habits are almost as annoying a Quatre's. Heero takes the time to separate his food, and won't eat anything that's touched something else. It takes forever, and then he gets mad at me for being done before he starts and trying to swipe his food. Come on, it's like he's begging me to take a shot at it by taking so long. Then there's Q-ball. Remember how I mentioned the Winners? Well, they were insanely rich and Q grew up in money. Money like that also means he had privet tutors for everything from math to combing his hair. This included table manners. I'll talk with my mouth full if I want to! Jeeze, never knew there was such a thing as a back seat eater. Who cares if my elbows are on the table, really!

Ah, seventh period, my favorite time of the day. Study Hall is bliss. I spend the entire time listening to music and doing nothing. I know it's for homework, but I don't do that anyway, so who cares? I love seventh period.

History I have with Quatre and Trowa eighth period. Technically the class is called 'Global History II' but we just spend the entire year on Europe, so why call it Global? I'm doing okay in that class, my last report card had my average at a 75. Pretty good, if I do say so myself. The history teacher is almost as cool as Hilde; Mr. Gammer makes a boring subject like Europe really exciting. Professor G (That's what everyone calls him; he was a collage professor for a while.) gives practically no homework and does every class on the fly, still managing to cover the curiculum requirements and everything. Did I spell curiculum right? Maybe it has another 'r'…

Anyway, History is Q-man's favorite subject. Oh, I forgot to tell you about Dorothy. She's pretty cool, Dorothy. She actually does help Quatre with his classes (He's a little ADD too – god, we are so messed up.) and is more there to monitor his progress. Being a pyromaniac means he has a danger of becoming a sadist like me, so she's supposed to watch out for the signs. Not that little Q would ever happily hurt someone, I mean the guy visited the dude he lit up every day when he was in the hospital. Quatre's just too sweat for that kind of thing.

Can you believe I have math ninth period? Forty minutes from freedom, and they decide to torture me with math. Now, I'm good at math. Really good. I have math with Heero and Wufei, and any class you have with Wufei is a class you excel in. (Did I really just use the word excel? My English teacher would faint if she saw this.) Problem is I don't _like_ math. I can't stand it, so I spend the class being a punk to the teacher and not doing anything. The teacher hates me, by the way. Me and Zechs clash like titans, and he does everything to get me down. Except you can't beat me down in math. I do everything short of purposely answering questions wrong to beat myself down, and I still get a B. In a class I hate, with a teacher who hates me, and with me doing absolutely no work at all.

I think Wufei's jealous.

Actually I just wrote that because he was reading over my shoulder. He stomped away in a huff, by the way, muttering about the injustice of smart punks.

Maybe he is jealous. That's really funny.

"Duo, dinner's ready!"

"In a minute Q! I'm writing!" Duo frowned at his notebook. Where had he left off again? Oh, yeah! Being uber smart in math and that Wufei was jealous. With a grin, Duo lowered his pen to the page. It hit the desk instead.

"Hey give that back!" Duo cried, leaping up from his chair. Heero raised an eyebrow at his journal.

"You keep a diary?" He inquired.

"It's not a diary, Quatre doesn't know what he's talking about! Now give it back!" Duo made a grab for the composition notebook, but Heero just raised it higher. Growling about his height, Duo rolled on his toes and jumped. But of coarse, super jock Heero didn't let up. Blinking up from the floor, Duo watched Heero make his way out the door with his notebook.

"I don't care if it's a diary or not." Heero informed the boy on the floor. "But it's keeping you from dinner, which is keeping me from eating. I'm holding it until after I'm done." The brunette then turned on his heal military style, and marched out the door. With a sigh, Duo pushed himself up off the floor.

"This sucks." He muttered, before following the other teen down the stairs. "I was almost done too."

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Sorry this took me so long to get out, I was really surprised with the response I got for this. I hope this meets the expectations of all my fans.

TS


End file.
